Airbnb, the travel service that aims at getting people to rent their homes or apartments to others, is helping the UK economy in a big way, the company claims.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Airbnb announced that its service generates $824 million in economic activity in the UK each year. Exactly what "economic activity" is might be up for debate, but it ostensibly means that its service brings tourists to areas where they spend money. The company also claims that Airbnb supports 11,629 jobs in the country.

Airbnb operates outside the UK, but kept its data to only that country. The company found that 80 percent of its UK hosts rent their primary residence, adding that 63 percent of those folks said that the rent they collected helped them to pay bills they might not otherwise afford.

Airbnb's study was conducted between November 2012 and October 2013.

The company previously released economic impact reports on Paris and San Francisco, and New York. Airbnb said it generated $240 million for Paris, $56 million in San Francisco, and$632 million for New York over the course of a year.

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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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